The Board of Education building at 28 Main Street.
- photo by Jessica Taylor

At a called meeting of the Dawson County Board of Education on April 2, education officials appointed a new board member to take the place of former board chair Will Wade, who resigned in March to qualify as a candidate for Georgia’s 9th District House Representative seat.

According to chairwoman Elaine Wilson, there were 10 applicants for the position and after a round of interviews the board was able to narrow the field to two possible candidates.

“After interviewing four applicants, we narrowed it down to Nathan Ingram and Seth Stowers, either of whom is a good option for the seat,” Wilson said.

Ingram will fill the seat on the board until a special election can be held in November, at which time voters will decide who will serve the final two years of the four-year term that would have been served by Wade.

Board approves $10 million bond sale

The board also discussed details pertaining to bond sales for 2020.

Dawson County voters approved the sale of bonds in November 2019 as part of the ESPLOST approval, and the board members discussed the final proposal for the sale and purchase of Series 2020 of $10 million in general obligation debt.

The bond sales would fund three specific projects: a technology center, a multiuse facility and an agriculture facility at Dawson County High School.

The board voted to approve the bond sales, as well as to approve Southern Bank and Trust as the banking institution for the bond proceeds and ESPLOST VI revenues.

The meeting also included a superintendent’s report by Dr. Damon Gibbs. Gibbs expressed his thankfulness for all of the school teachers, staff and administration during the recent school closures due to COVID-19.

“We have 550 people working around the clock,” Gibbs said, “and I have never been more proud of our district.”

Gibbs especially commented on the nutrition workers, bus drivers and volunteers who have been helping to provide meals for children while classes are out.

“We just have a lot of people going way outside of what they normally have to do in order to be flexible, understanding, and most importantly to be a servant to the children of our community,” Gibbs said. “And I am absolutely beyond proud.”